The governor of the Bank of England has reiterated past signals that the central bank was gearing up to raise interest rates amid rising prices.

The Bank of England must act to contain inflation -- especially possible medium-term inflation -- regardless of monetary policy not being able to solve supply-side problems, said Andrew Bailey on Sunday while speaking at an online panel held by the Washington-based G30 Group.

Warning that rising energy prices would mean high inflation lasting longer, Bailey said: "That's why we, at the Bank of England, have signaled, and this is another such signal, that we will have to act," Bailey said. “But of course that action comes in our monetary policy meetings."

Noting that demand for labor in the country was gradually increasing, he voiced "concerns about the growth of labor supply."

The bank, which has an inflation target level of 2%, expects this figure to exceed 4% by the end of the year.

It may become the first among advanced economy central banks to increase interest rates, taking action this year or at the beginning of 2022.

The Bank of England is currently holding the policy rate at 0.1%./agencies